Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Regeneration by the Microenvironment

Dear Colleagues,

Skeletal muscles make up a large proportion of total body mass and act as especially important reserves of the energy substrates that are needed to support critical organ function. Skeletal muscles are highly vascularized and the importance of vascularization in normal skeletal muscle function has been well documented. Several studies have identified significant alterations in skeletal muscle vascular organization in diseases with defective muscle regeneration. Muscle regeneration is dependent on satellite cells (SCs) which under normal conditions lie dormant. In response to muscle injury, SCs undergo several steps of activation, proliferation, differentiation, and fusion to form new terminally differentiated muscle fibers. There is increasing evidence that SCs myogenesis program is strongly influenced by their microenvironment, including adjacent cells such as endothelial cells (ECs), peri-endothelial cells (peri-ECs), macrophages, and fibro-adipogenic precursor cells. Indeed, the vasculature undergoes significant alterations during muscle regeneration, such as increased capillary formation, anastomosis, and branching which are the manifestation of EC activation. Strong cooperation between ECs and SCs has also been shown to be critical for efficient myogenesis program of SCs and angiogenesis program of ECs during muscle regeneration. This cooperation is mediated by several growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), platelet-derived growth factor, hepatocyte growth factor, fibroblast growth factors, and angiopoietin-1. Recent studies have also highlighted the importance of restorative macrophages and mesenchymal stem cells in orchestrating the coupling of myogenesis and angiogenesis during muscle regeneration. This Special Issue offers an open access forum that aims to bring together a collection of original research and review articles addressing the expanding field of the importance of microenvironment in skeletal muscle regeneration. We hope to provide an important resource for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in muscle regeneration and for the exploration of therapeutic potentials of growth factor- or cell-based therapies to enhance muscle regeneration in various diseases. Suggested potential topics may include the following: Roles of angiogenesis factors in skeletal muscle regeneration; cross talks between myogenic progenitor cells and endothelial cells; role of immune cells in muscle regeneration; epigenetic control of in vivo and in vitro myogenesis programs; therapeutic potentials of skeletal muscle pericytes; roles of exosomes in muscle regeneration.

Prof. Dr. Sabah Hussain
Guest Editor

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